WD 80GB Caviar violent death

[chungdokwan]

Hi,
Sorry for posting in the CPU section but I didn't get many replies in the HDD section

I have had 2 WD digital 80gb caviar SATA drives from 2 different machines which have failed leaving burn marks on the PCB on the harddrive where the SATA cable connects to the drive.

They will be replaced under warranty but would like to know if has happended to anyone else.

(and scaring the crap out of staff whose computers started belching smoke for no apperent reason)

I suspect its the PSU's dieing and taking the HDD with them, but was wondering if perhaps its common for these drives to fail like this.

Does anyone know ?

 

[dragonsprayer]

i got a stack of old broken hard drives and they are all wd's!

no seagtes - which i use the most of

its a wd they suck what u expect!

 

[ajfink]

To keep this from turning in a "WD SUCKS!!!" thread, I've used WD drives for years and have yet to actually have one fail on me.

If the PSUs are of the same model / low quality, it could primarily be a problem there, which is more likely, judging from the problem you've described.

 

[dragonsprayer]

ya - WD told me the same thing when i sent back 3 drives. i think your right that wd has just as good a record as anyone else.

but WD does resell recycled drives so i wonder if they hide there failures - i am not sure if its just bad luck on my part???


the raptors are great of coarse!

 

[chungdokwan]

yeah was wondering that myself there all pre built Optima systems so are under warranty anyway.

Was just wondering if it was common for these drives to fail in such a spectacular way.

The power supplys still work and the systems still POST's, I'm going to argue for a whole system replacement if possible, There is no way of telling if other components have been overvaulted and are going to fail later so screw Optima.

 

[1Tanker]

To keep this from turning in a "WD SUCKS!!!" thread, I've used WD drives for years and have yet to actually have one fail on me.

If the PSUs are of the same model / low quality, it could primarily be a problem there, which is more likely, judging from the problem you've described.

Ditto. Regarding the PSU, i guess it would have to be overvolting to burn the PCB... undervolting or even just fluctuating voltage wouldn't do that.....IMO. :? Scary though....sounds like it could have possibly started a fire.

 

[ajfink]

yeah was wondering that myself there all pre built Optima systems so are under warranty anyway.

Was just wondering if it was common for these drives to fail in such a spectacular way.

The power supplys still work and the systems still POST's, I'm going to argue for a whole system replacement if possible, There is no way of telling if other components have been overvaulted and are going to fail later so screw Optima.

I've heard of spectacular failures like this...with PSU problems. Perhaps simply replacing the PSUs with higher-quality models would suffice.

 

[chungdokwan]

Yeah one office had to be evacuated, terrible smelling smoke lucky noone had an Asthma attack or something.

Its a worry though if someone leave thier machine on overnight and it goes then though.

Im thinking its the PSU as well, Could the motherboard have anything to do with it ?

 

[1Tanker]

Yeah one office had to be evacuated, terrible smelling smoke lucky noone had an Asthma attack or something.

Its a worry though if someone leave thier machine on overnight and it goes then though.

Im thinking its the PSU as well, Could the motherboard have anything to do with it ?

I don't think so. The power for your HDD's comes from a Molex or SATA power cable...from the PSU. The only thing travelling through the IDE/SATA cables is data.

 

[306maxi]

i got a stack of old broken hard drives and they are all wd's!

no seagtes - which i use the most of

its a wd they suck what u expect!

Well I've had more dead Seagates than WD's so I'd have to say they suck equally as much.

Why not try to help the OP rather than tell him that his purchase was a bad one....

 

[Wombat2]

To keep this from turning in a "WD SUCKS!!!" thread, I've used WD drives for years and have yet to actually have one fail on me.

If the PSUs are of the same model / low quality, it could primarily be a problem there, which is more likely, judging from the problem you've described.

ditto

 

[turpit]

To keep this from turning in a "WD SUCKS!!!" thread, I've used WD drives for years and have yet to actually have one fail on me.

If the PSUs are of the same model / low quality, it could primarily be a problem there, which is more likely, judging from the problem you've described.

Ditto. Regarding the PSU, i guess it would have to be overvolting to burn the PCB... undervolting or even just fluctuating voltage wouldn't do that.....IMO. :? Scary though....sounds like it could have possibly started a fire.

Tritto

Ive used WDs for years, and the only one that ever failed on me did so as the result of power problems, a surge to be specific. Ive also used Seagates and IBMs and had them fail on me. None of those companies would be around if the majority of their products were crap.

I agree with the PSU theory. Especially if you're seeing actual burn marks at the inteface.

 

[dasickninja]

ya - WD told me the same thing when i sent back 3 drives. i think your right that wd has just as good a record as anyone else.

but WD does resell recycled drives so i wonder if they hide there failures - i am not sure if its just bad luck on my part???


the raptors are great of coarse!

You ever considered the possibility of user error?